LENTIL AND CHICKEN SOUP RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Peel and finely chop the onions and carrots, trim and finely chop the celery, and peel and finely slice the garlic. Finely chop the bacon.
  2. Heat a lug of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the bacon and fry slowly until the bacon starts to release all its tasty fat and goes crispy, then crumble in the dried chilli, and add the dried thyme, onion, carrot, celery and garlic.
  3. Cook gently with the lid on for about 15 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft, then add the lentils and 1 litre water or vegetable stock.
  4. Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are soft (check the packet instructions as different types of lentils vary in cooking time. If you’re mixing your lentils, cook for the longest amount of time to make sure they are all cooked properly).
  5. Drain, then tip in the cannellini beans and, if the soup’s a little thick, add a splash more water. Bring back to the boil and simmer for another 10 minutes, then taste and season with sea salt and black pepper.
  6. Meanwhile, pick and finely chop the parsley.
  7. Ladle into bowls and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the chopped parsley. Serve with hunks of bread for dunking.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until they are softened and starting to smell sweet, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds.
• Stir in the lentils and broth. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Taste then adjust with salt (we add between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon depending on how well seasoned the broth is). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the lentils are tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and stir in the kale (or spinach) and cook, uncovered, another 5 minutes. Take the soup off of the heat, and then stir in the juice of half a lemon and the fresh herbs. Taste the soup, and then season with additional salt and/or lemon juice. (I like quite a bit of lemon.)
• Serve or if you prefer the soup to be blended, use an immersion blender to blend until your desired consistency. Alternatively, you can use a stand blender to blend all or part of the soup. For even more lemon flavor, serve with a few lemon slices.